Meet the Directors

Meet the leadership behind the SKYCTC Art Gallery, dedicated professionals who guide its vision, curate dynamic exhibitions, and foster a vibrant connection between the college and the broader arts community.

C. David Jones

C. David Jones is a Glasgow native who has been exploring figurative subject matter for most of his career. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, and went on to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia. Upon graduation, Jones returned to Bowling Green and in 1990 he took a position in the art department at Western Kentucky University. In 2013, Jones founded the art department and is the senior Art Professor at Southcentral Kentucky Community & Technical College. Winning the Al Smith Fellowship, Jones continued his work in hopes of maintaining growth as a painter. He then earned two other degrees from WKU in Art History and Pop Culture. He continues to pursue the figure in his work which consists of painting, both oil and acrylic, watercolor, graphite, and pastel. Narrative subject matter that creates intrigue or curiosity is a constant theme throughout his images. Paintings that explore the object as a figure have also been prevalent in his journey. Multiples, such as 100 avocados and 200 olives, have been met with success and enjoyment. He is currently working on a variety of tomatoes in his latest series. A display of Four and Twenty crows was executed and a series entitled 75 Ciliege. An award-winning artist, Jones continues to exhibit and take commissions of art that fits his folksy style. He has been involved with a number of galleries during his career, including Lot 916 and Ellis Walker Gallery, as well as a founding member of Artworks, Inc., which he currently serves on the board. Jones is proud to contribute and be part of the new Art Gallery at SKYCTC.

Jones has also been prolific in his mural work. Large works throughout Western Kentucky and Tennessee can be seen by those who visit. Public murals are satisfying because of the number of viewers. It helps to educate and beautify on a profound level. You can take the work out of the gallery and put it right on the street for all to see. Jones continues his work alongside his wife, Kim, and daughter, Marlee, and works can be found at various shows in the region. A body of work is continually on the easel and the expression of the figure is always being explored.

Leslie Nichols

Leslie Nichols is an award-winning visual artist, educator, and Director of the Art Gallery at Southcentral Kentucky Community and Technical College. With more than twenty-five years of professional art experience, she is committed to fostering meaningful connections between artists, students, and the broader community through exhibitions and programming.

Working with text as image, Nichols’ artistic practice treats language as material, using analog printing technologies. Her text-based portraits draw on personal narratives and historical texts to explore how meaning evolves over time.

She is recognized nationally and internationally for her contributions to contemporary typewriter art, and her work is featured in Typewriter Art: A Modern Anthology (Laurence King), The Art of Typewriting (Thames & Hudson), Reframing Women Printmakers (Aurora Metro Books), and For the Love of Letterpress, Second Edition (Bloomsbury Visual Arts).

Her work is held in major public and institutional collections including Yale University, the Library of Congress, the New York Public Library, and the Sackner Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry. She has exhibited in over one hundred exhibitions, including the Huntsville Museum of Art, Evansville Museum, and Carnegie Center for Visual and Performing Arts. Nichols is represented by LeMieux Galleries in New Orleans.

Her practice has been supported by grants from the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation, the American Association of University Women, the Great Meadows Foundation, the Kentucky Foundation for Women, and an NEA-supported residency at Women’s Studio Workshop. She has completed additional residencies at Vermont Studio Center, Hambidge Center for Creative Arts and Sciences, Can Serrat, Hopscotch House, and Zion National Park.

As an educator, Nichols serves as Associate Professor at SKYCTC, where she teaches first-year experience courses and was named the 2024 Outstanding Educator of the Year by the Kentucky Chapter of the National Organization for Student Success (KOSS). She holds a BFA in Painting (summa cum laude) from Fontbonne University, an MA in Social Responsibility and Sustainable Communities and a Graduate Certificate in Women’s Studies from Western Kentucky University, and a Graduate Certificate in Visual Art from the Harvard University Extension School.